German bobsled team crashes, slides on side over finish line to take gold medal position

The two-man bobsled competition began on Sunday in PyeongChang, with the German team of Nico Walther and Christian Poser finding themselves in third place after the first of four runs.

With his eyes on the medal stand, Walther took an aggressive line as the team’s pilot in run two. His aggression led to his sled tipping over and a slide across the finish line with his and Poser’s head exposed to the wall of the ice track while traveling at a high speed.

Nico Walther and Christian Poser crashed across the finish line on Sunday to take gold medal position in the second of four bobsled runs. (Reuters)

It was a scary moment for the German coaches and onlookers at the Olympic Sliding Center as they could only watch and wait for the sled to stop to see if the bobsledders were OK.

After a tense few seconds, a celebratory Walther and Poser got out of the sled with some help and appeared no worse for wear from the crash.

To make things better, Walther’s risky driving paid off. He and Poser took over gold-medal position and will have the edge for the podium heading into Monday’s final two runs.